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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Fruit of the Spirit, continued
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 1:9—NIV)
The saints through the ages have left bloody footprints in the snow. We are no different today. We are to bear our perplexities and pains without any complaining whatever or any blaming of other people or the tools God uses to bring us to maturity.
If we cannot exercise patience and perseverance we cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
Of the many attributes of character that John could have associated with the Kingdom of God, the one he chose was patient endurance. Suffering, patient endurance, and the Kingdom of God have always been linked together.
Any human being can learn to exercise patience and forbearance. But we Christians have access to a quality and quantity of patience and forbearance that are not available to the person who is outside of Jesus Christ.
But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . patience, . . . . (Galatians 5:22,23—NIV)
Patience is a fruit of the Spirit of God. This means as we walk in the Spirit each day, seeking the Lord, keeping His commandments, keeping our minds set on the Spirit and our affection on things above, the fruit of patience is borne in us. The patience that is the fruit of the Spirit will overcome all the irritations and problems of life.
The following passage has meant a great deal to me as "amazing grace" has been leading Audrey and me home.
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Hebrews 6:12—NIV)
God has promised us the crown of life and righteousness, fellowship with Jesus throughout the future ages of eternity, and the nations and farthest reaches of the earth for our possession. In order to inherit the Divine promises we must be diligent to imitate the Prophets and godly people of the Old Testament and the Apostles and godly people of the New.
The parable of the sower tells us that many in whom the Divine Seed has been planted do not, for one reason or another, bear lasting fruit. The fruit is Christ. They do not bear Christ. They germinate and grow for a season but do not bear the Character of Christ.
The Lord Jesus warned us if we do not bear fruit we will be cut out of the Vine.
Are we saying all these immature Christians will be assigned to the Lake of Fire? I personally do not think so. I think becoming an eternal part of Jesus Christ in the Kingdom sense, being an eternal part of the new Jerusalem, the glorified Church, is the high calling placed on the elect.
But I am not ready to say those who did not go on to bear the fruit of the transformed character, which may account for the majority of the believers in the United States, are doomed to the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is for the wicked, not for the weak souls who were not stalwart enough to persist in the rigors of the Christian discipleship.
To be continued.